That Thing That Happened That Time
by Forgotten Conscience
Summary: Buffy attempts to deal with what's going on in her life just as Faith shows up to help out with Twilight. Spoilers for the Season 8 comic up to issue #12
1. That Thing That Happened That Time

Disclaimer: All those involved with the story that I didn't create myself out of thin air belong to Joss Whedon and anyone associated with him who is lucky enough to be a part of writing, producing, funding, or drawing the characters that he created from that insane mind of his that we all love so much.

Rating: Mostly PG-13 with some minor language and adult conversations/situations.

Feedback: Anything you're willing to give me is fine in whatever way you'd like to give it to me. :)

Distribution: Anywhere other than where I put it, lemme know and I'm sure it'll be fine. Otherwise you can find it on BuffynFaithdotnet.

Author's Notes: This is a story I wrote for a challenge on Oralfxatn's yahoogroup dealing with the aftermath of issue #12 that has to have Faith's in the mix. It's also the second story I've ever written in the semi-omniscient third person. Hopefully it's a worthwhile read.

**That thing that happened that time that's really no big deal**

"You did what?"

Buffy stares over at Faith from her reaction.

"You were probably gonna find out sooner or later, this place isn't exactly the Fort Knox of secrets so I figured I'd better tell you myself and save everyone the trouble."

"Right, right, thanks, appreciate it. Let's go back to the part about the gay sex."

The blonde slayer shrugs calmly.

"It's really no big deal. It's just something that happened one night a while back."

A smile creeps onto Faith's face.

"Yeah, sure it is. You know, Spike told me one time, before the crater formerly known as Sunnydale, that you'd somehow learned to melt that block of ice in your libido and gotten your naughty on but I didn't really believe him. I guess when you go somewhere you don't really go half way with anything do you?"

Buffy's sudden frown becomes a glare before she turns away from Faith and starts walking.

"I knew bringing you in for extra support with Twilight was a bad idea. I just KNEW it."

The grinning brunette slayer is quick to follow behind.

"Hey, come on. You asked me to come and I came... that may have been a bad choice of words, what with your sudden revelation."

Buffy's hand clenches into a fist but she resists the urge to use it, grunting in frustration instead.

"Faith, I told you, it's just something that happened and it's really no big deal."

"Yeah, I know. I know. So does this mean you're all 'Meow, out of the bag' and 'Skeletons emptied out of the closet' now? Are you the big shot lesbian around here now? Are you the new redheaded Wicca?"

Buffy stops and faces Faith, the frustration clear as day on her face.

"FAITH! You..."

The blonde slayer growls between her teeth and ends it with a frustrated grunt. Faith's grin gets even more obvious on her face.

"Again with the grunting B, you realize I'm not comfortable with this anymore?"

Buffy resists the urge to use her clenched fist again.

"Look, Faith, I really don't know what this is for you, but it's not anywhere near funny for me anymore. I can't tell you much more than what I've already said because I haven't taken the time to actually think about it beyond the 'it's just something that happened one night and it's really no big deal' line that I gave you earlier. So will you please lay off with the questions?"

Faith's grin quickly goes away and she holds up her hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay. Sorry... it's just, this is all sorta coming completely out of left field for me since the girl I met a couple years ago would've never even considered the big wide opening you've apparently gone diving into since we were last within fisting distance of each other. It's a little much."

This time nothing stops Buffy from swinging her fist right into Faith's chin, knocking the dark slayer onto her butt. Strangely, Buffy seems calm when Faith recovers and looks up at the puncher to her punchee.

"Stop making jokes about this Faith. It's not funny. It's just..."

"Something that happened and it's not really a big deal, yeah I got that. Sorry..."

Faith gets up slowly and faces Buffy without punching back. There's a few moments of silence between them before Faith speaks again.

"Well, I know this might be a new concept for us, but maybe I can do something to help."

Buffy rolls her eyes with disbelief.

"Yeah, because you've been such a big help so far..."

The dark slayer shrugs.

"You never know until you try something B."

For a second, Buffy goes to punch Faith again but Faith holds up her hands in surrender.

"That was me trying to help B, not a joke."

Buffy takes a moment to decide whether her former enemy is being honest before relaxing her fist.

"I don't see how."

"Well, I've had my share of weird and uncomfortable relationships. Lemme ask you something, how does the other woman in this feel about what happened? What's her name anyway?"

Buffy is silent for a while, thinking about it.

"Satsu, and well, we talked about it... afterwards, you know..."

"And?"

Buffy sighs.

"And... I think we're on the same page about how little I've thought about this and how clear I was about the non-committal part of what happened. But..."

Buffy hesitates and doesn't finish her sentence.

"But?"

"But, it's complicated."

Faith looks curiously at Buffy.

"Why?"

Buffy looks down at the ground, feeling slightly ashamed.

"She's in love with me. She told me so a couple days before it happened."

"And you're non-committal because you're not sure you feel the same way."

Buffy's surprised by the sudden moment of insight Faith seems to have into her situation.

"Yeah..."

"Right... been there done that with the Prince of Principals. You want the quick fix short answer?"

Buffy stares at Faith with confusion.

"There's a quick fix short answer?"

Faith nods.

"Yup, and it all boils down to one question."

"Which is?"

"How do you feel about her?"

There's nothing but silence from the blonde slayer for a while.

"I have no idea. I mean, she's nice. She's a real good slayer, majorly understanding, and we had fun together in a non-bedroom related way for months before this all happened. Plus she makes me laugh sometimes. But... is that even the type of thing I'm supposed be looking for when it comes to women? And... what about other women?"

"What about them?"

"Well, you weren't exactly wrong when you said that I'd never really thought about feeling this way towards women. Then suddenly, bang, I'm lying naked in a bed next to one after some mind blowing sex."

Faith grins a little.

"That good eh?"

Buffy raises her fist to Faith but the brunette steps back defensively.

"Sorry, impulse, go on..."

The blonde goes back to her train of thought.

"Shouldn't I have had some sort've some other sign or signs prior to making it to the bedroom? Some feeling towards some other woman, other than her? I'm not even sure I have those kinds of feelings now."

"Well I can definitely help you there."

Buffy gets confused and looks up at Faith.

"How can y...?"

Her speaking lips are cut off by her kissing lips as Faith steps right into Buffy's personal space and plants a firm lip lock right on the blonde slayer. Not more than a few seconds pass of utter silence in the hallway before the kiss is broken and Faith steps back to where she was prior. A few extra seconds pass where they both have to regain their breath and then Faith speaks.

"So... how do you feel?"

Silence follows again for about a minute this time.

"I don't know..."

Buffy suddenly steps into Faith's personal space and does the same thing back. The kiss lasts longer this time and when Buffy finally ends it, she doesn't quite step back, looking Faith in the eyes as their lips are inches from each other. A feeling of electricity sparks between them for the seconds right before Buffy steps back. Neither of them responds right away, but Buffy is finally the first to speak.

"I don't even know how to feel about THAT."

They stay silent a little while longer before Faith reacts.

"Well, hey, we can always just place it in the 'that thing that happened that time that's really no big deal' column you're so fond of all of the sudden."

Buffy looks down at the floor, unsure of how to feel about the suggestion.

"I guess we could."

Another moment of silence stretches out between the two slayers.

"Or not..."

Both Faith and Buffy suddenly look to the sound of another voice. Satsu is standing less than ten feet away staring at both of them. For every silent moment that passes, Buffy can see the pieces of Satsu's heart cracking into shards of glass in her eyes along with the tears quickly forming.

"S... Satsu I..."

Her tears finally spill out over her eyelids and Satsu takes off down the long, dark, seemingly endless hallway of the Scottish castle.

"SATSU!"

For a second, Buffy looks at Faith, the obvious feeling of horrible guilt and heartache on her face. Faith cocks her head in the direction Satsu took off down the hallway to give her the okay.

"Go..."

Buffy takes off down the hallway after Satsu.

**End of chapter 1**


	2. Satsu

Disclaimer: All those involved with the story that I didn't create myself out of thin air belong to Joss Whedon and anyone associated with him who is lucky enough to be a part of writing, producing, funding, or drawing the characters that he created from that insane mind of his that we all love so much.

Rating: Mostly PG-13 with some minor language and adult conversations/situations.

Feedback: Anything you're willing to give me is fine in whatever way you'd like to give it to me. :)

Distribution: Anywhere other than where I put it, lemme know and I'm sure it'll be fine. Otherwise you can find it on BuffynFaithdotnet.

**Satsu**

"SATSU!"

Buffy races down the hall after the younger and slightly faster but less experienced slayer she slept with not more than a week ago.

"Satsu, please... please stop..."

The two slayers eventually come to a stop when Buffy manages to catch up and get in front of Satsu.

"Okay, thanks, I... wow, you're really getting faster at the whole running thing. Good job."

Satsu stands firmly in front of her mentor and sudden lover with a glare angrier than she'd ever felt before.

"Motivation is key. You taught me that."

All of the sudden, the air seems to get thicker in the seemingly darker hall they're standing in.

"Right, uh, right... well, good job then. You really know your stuff."

Satsu's stance becomes more defensive as the seconds tick by.

"Apparently I have a lot to learn though."

A moment of silence happens with Satsu's comment and the air seems to get less friendly when it does. Buffy tries to find the words to explain what happened a few minutes ago.

"Okay, uh, look, uh... I..."

Suddenly the words 'I'm sorry' seem like the worst possible things that could come out of Buffy's mouth, which had been the plan right up until that point.

"Uh... okay, um... it's, it's not what it looks like."

Apparently that was also the wrong thing to say because Satsu's expression gets even less positive than it was before.

"It's not?"

"No, no it's not. It's really not. I..."

Again the words 'I'm sorry' come up and again it's the worst possible idea Buffy can have.

"What is it then?"

"W-... see... uh... I know it's not what it seems to be but... uh, how much of what happened did you actually see?"

Satsu crosses her arms over her chest but her angry tone seems to lessen a little with the addition of sadness behind it.

"I saw enough."

Buffy shifts her weight uncomfortably trying desperately to make sure that whatever she says next doesn't set the young slayer off.

"Uh, okay, well, umm... did you at least see the part about how I was talking about us? That we were talking about what happened between you and me when, well, it happened."

The defensive-ness of Satsu's stance loosens by a lot because of Buffy's words.

"You were?"

"Y-yeah, I... Faith and I were talking about what you and me have together before you showed up like that."

A glimmer of hope appears on Satsu's face all of the sudden and Buffy assumes the best.

"And we have something worth talking about?"

Buffy attempts to smile at the favorable turn of events.

"Well, yeah..."

Satsu is now the one to smile at the turn of events.

"Like what?"

The smile on Buffy's face suddenly goes away at the answer she's about to give as she looks down at the floor and rubs the back of her head.

"Uh... I don't know?"

Instantly, the defensive-ness of Satsu's stance is back worse than ever.

"But... but that's what we were talking about before what you probably saw. I was telling her how I didn't know what I'm feeling for you but also about how good you make me feel and that I like being around you. Faith was trying to give me advice on what to do."

That doesn't make things better.

"The way I saw it, she wasn't the only one giving things."

"Y-n-uh, yeah, I know but uh... she was the one that started that and the next time I see Faith, I'm gonna punch her right in the nose for doing that to you and I may even put her in the hospital again for a couple months or more."

Buffy's words make Satsu smile a little even though she knows that's probably a bad thing to be feeling.

"Really?"

The blonde slayer nods determinedly and gives Satsu a resolved look.

"Absolutely..."

"Everything all right?"

"Go away Faith."

Moments after the words leave her mouth, Buffy cringes and looks at Satsu with her look of absolute anger which goes from Buffy to Faith, to back to Buffy before she turns around and walks away from both of them, not looking back. When she's far enough away, Faith finally speaks again.

"I guess I can take that as a good sign?"

"Shut up Faith."

"Sorry..."

"Just shut up and go away Faith."

Faith stands there silently with Buffy for a few seconds before Buffy says anything.

"Before I do something else that I regret."

It only takes Faith a second to get the picture before she turns around and heads off in the opposite direction of Satsu, leaving Buffy standing alone in the dark, endless hallway of the suddenly dank smelling Scottish castle. She doesn't stand alone for long though, as Xander randomly wanders down the hall. Completely oblivious to anything that might've been going on a few moments ago, he sees Buffy and smiles.

"Hey Buff, what's up? Faith all settled in?"

Buffy rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Yeah, sure whatever..."

Xander instantly picks up on the jovial mood Buffy happens to be at this moment and gets curious.

"You seem to be in an upbeat mood all of the sudden. What's up?"

Buffy looks Xander right in his eye, pure sadness on her face and in her eyes.

"I think I've made the biggest mistake of my life."

Xander raises one eyebrow at Buffy.

"Considering the colossal mistakes you've made in your life, that's a pretty big statement there, Buff. What's up?"

All Buffy can do is smile with sadness at the joking smile on Xander's face and step into the simple hug that he offers willingly. They embrace with nothing but kindness and despite everything Buffy can't help but feel a little better for no reason at all.

**End of Chapter 2 of 6**


	3. Faith

Disclaimer: All those involved with the story that I didn't create myself out of thin air belong to Joss Whedon and anyone associated with him who is lucky enough to be a part of writing, producing, funding, or drawing the characters that he created from that insane mind of his that we all love so much.

Rating: Mostly PG-13 with some minor language and adult conversations/situations.

Feedback: Anything you're willing to give me is fine in whatever way you'd like to give it to me. :)

Distribution: Anywhere other than where I put it, lemme know and I'm sure it'll be fine. Otherwise you can find it on BuffynFaithdotnet.

**Faith**

The sound of large foot steps is all that is really heard from Faith's room as the ground shakes a little while whatever's doing it moves around to wherever it's going. Then suddenly, the sunlight coming in through the window is almost completely blocked out and the sound of a rather large nail tapping on the window can be heard.

Faith gets up, confused, and goes over to the window cautiously to see what's going on. When she sees there's no danger of being attacked or killed, she looks out the window at the giant eye that is suddenly looking through the window back at her.

"Faith?"

Unlocking the latch on the window at the sound of Dawn's voice, she opens it and Dawn steps back as Faith leans her upper body on the windowsill.

"Wow, I guess you're about a size 50 in women's now, ain't ya pint-sized?"

"Something like that... Faith, can you tell me something?"

Faith shrugs uncertainly.

"Depends on the answer to your question I guess. What's up?"

"Why is Buffy asking me to come and get you and tell you that she wants to speak to you?"

The dark slayer freezes for a second with a confused look before looking up at Dawn and shrugging.

"Dunno big feet, but I guess there's only one way to find out."

Dawn gives Faith a confused and slightly angry look.

"Did you guys try and kill each other again?"

Faith shakes her head at the plus-sized woman.

"Nope..."

"Did you force feed her pixie sticks or something?"

That makes Faith laugh a little bit, the image of such a situation completely ridiculous.

"No, why?"

"Because... she's acting all nervous as hell out where she is like she's coming down off a sugar rush. I think she REALLY wants to talk to you about something."

Her head drops to look down toward the ground about 50 feet away, knowing exactly what the forthcoming conversation will probably be about.

"Okay... where is she?"

"W-wait, before I tell you that, I'm supposed to tell you that ALL of the other slayers are running drills with Xander in the training room. But she won't tell me why that matters or what that has to do with anything."

"Great, thanks, now where exactly is she?"

Dawn looks at Faith suspiciously.

"Are you sure you're not trying to kill each other again?"

"Yeah I am giant size. Now, where is it that she's waiting for me?"

"There's a clearing about half a mile from here in that direction."

A giant finger points towards a forest directly in front of Faith's window.

"All right, thanks, I appreciate it. Say, help a more vertically challenged girl out and give her a lift down from her window would you?"

Dawn frowns at Faith thanks to the constant references to her current size problem but eventually holds out her hand so that Faith can climb onto it. The less than ten foot tall brunette climbs out of her window and drops herself gently onto Dawn's hand. She gets used to the strange feeling of being in a giant hand but then a thumb and forefinger suddenly grab her by the back of her shirt and pick her up over the fifty foot drop that's suddenly below.

"Hey, what the?"

She's brought, dangling uncontrollably, eye to eye with Dawn's large ones and an angry look that's a lot more menacing then it would be under normal circumstances is what greets her.

"You better not be trying to kill each other. Cause even with regular sized strength I can still crush you like a bug or smoosh you like a bug under my foot. Don't think I won't."

Faith gives Dawn a whole hearted thumb's up while looking at the lack of ground under her feet.

"Message received, and you got nothing to worry about. I promise not even a punch will be thrown at any time we are within distance to be able to be doing that."

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence before Dawn says anything.

"There better not be."

After that, Dawn slowly starts to put Faith down, taking her as far as she can without moving her feet but stops short of about ten feet to the ground. With what seems like a moment of hesitation, Faith tries to look at what Dawn's doing but can't and then gets dropped to the cold, hard ground without warning.

"Get going..."

Faith lands hard and it takes her a second to recover before she looks back at Dawn with a slightly annoyed look but that goes away when the reality that she should probably get going hits her. She heads off in the direction Dawn pointed out and it doesn't take her long to find the clearing. When she gets there, she sees Buffy standing next to a pond staring out over the really beautiful spot. The complete uncertainty of what's going to be happening next occurs to Faith and she stops ten feet away from Buffy, not sure what to do. It's Buffy who makes that decision for her though as she turns around to see Faith, a sudden uncertain and nervous look instantly appearing on her face.

"Hey..."

Long stretches of silence sew themselves together as Buffy shifts her weight uncomfortably at Faith's words.

"Uh, hey..."

Faith decides that more silence isn't really what either of them needs right now.

"So, you wanted to talk?"

"N-yeah..."

The dark slayer looks around at the place where she is and where Buffy is standing.

"And so beautiful Scottish scenery seemed like the most appropriate place to do the talking thing?"

Buffy looks around at the trees and the pond and the way the light reflects on the water and a sudden realization comes over her.

"Apparently..."

Her attention comes back to Faith.

"I guess I didn't really plan any of this out all that properly."

Faith kinda grins at the obvious statement.

"Apparently..."

She looks around again at where she is.

"You know, a text message can work just as well. You might try it sometime."

Buffy's now the one that sorta grins at the obvious statement.

"I think I've tried enough new things to last me a lifetime thank you very much."

They both grin together for a brief moment of levity.

"Probably true..."

It isn't long before reality sets back in though and Buffy's expression becomes more serious.

"Besides, I didn't wanna take the risk of Satsu seeing me trying to pour my heart out into a text message or an email or something."

Faith's expression is the one that becomes more serious this time.

"Good thinking, this works..."

Despite the scenery, both of them get very uncomfortable and uncertain about what to say next. Buffy manages something though.

"Look, Faith, about what happened in the hallway."

Instead of interrupting with some kind of comment like Buffy was hoping for, Faith just stands there and listens which makes Buffy all the more nervous. She ends up stopping where she left off and that forces Faith to say something.

"Hey, no worries B. It's like we said before. It's just one of those things that happened that time that's really no big deal. Compared to the other things we've done to each other, it's not exactly the Deep Throat mystery."

Buffy shifts her weight uncomfortably at what Faith just suggested.

"I uh... I guess but..."

"It ain't that hard to figure out B. You and me ain't like that and we both know it. It's you and me. We could hold the patent on horrible misunderstandings and bad endings. So just go find the one of us that, even if we WERE like that, actually has a chance to make you happy."

The blonde slayer just stays silent instead of responding with an incredibly hurt look on her face.

"Go find the little Sushi eater, take her by the hand, and go screw each other's brains out to both your little heart's content."

"I... I know I should but..."

"So go. Be with the little firecracker of a slayer. She's the one you should be enjoying the scenery with."

"Faith, I..."

Faith moves a little closer to Buffy and Buffy isn't sure what to do about it.

"Look, just tell me something. Think back to before I got here and messed everything up. Before you got down and dirty with the fabulous protégé and answer me this one question."

Buffy kinda closes her eyes and tries to picture it, a strange sense of calm coming over her despite Faith's words.

"Are you happy now? Could you look me in the eye now and tell me that you're happy now?"

The memory of being around Satsu and the fun they were having, the reason they hit the sheets in the first place comes back to her and Buffy can't help but smile a sad smile.

"Yes..."

A short pause of uncomfortable, unexpected silence passes between them in the middle of the happy sound of birds chirping and the wind blowing in the trees gently.

"Then, there ain't nothing left to talk about."

Faith turns away and starts walking back to the Scottish castle to hide the slightly shocked and disappointedly sad look in her eyes. But before Faith can get less than five feet, Buffy speaks again.

"But... Faith, this isn't before you came along and I can't just erase you and what happened from the feelings I'm all the sudden having now."

The dark slayer pauses for a second and forces herself to find the strength to keep talking to Buffy.

"Trust me, whatever you might think you're feeling. Whatever you think is going on between us now, it'll pass. Just, go be with the little Sushi strumpet."

Buffy, unsure of what to do next, steps up to Faith and pulls her into what she wants to be a scorching kiss. There's no response from Faith though as she forces herself not to respond to what Buffy's trying to do with her tongue. Eventually Faith forces Buffy to break the kiss and they step back from each other's exclusive presence.

"You can't tell me that you didn't feel something in that kiss Faith, that there wasn't something there worth feeling. Because unlike you I was actually there for both of them and I know that you can't."

Faith takes a second to recover and then puts on a resolve face.

"Can, and will B. You and me ain't like that. We... aww fuck it."

This time Faith steps into Buffy's personal space and plants a big one right on her in the middle of the clearing. But it's this time that Buffy refuses to respond, eventually forcing an end to the kiss and putting an angry look on Buffy's face. She's quicker to recover and react though, a punch flying right into Faith's nose and knocking her to the ground. It isn't long before Faith is looking up at Buffy with a confused expression, wiping her nose with her sleeve in case of blood.

"You say all those horrible things to me and tell me how you don't feel anything for me and then you go and kiss me?"

Buffy tries to relax her hand from the force of the impact on Faith's face.

"I think you were probably right with your first impulse."

Then Buffy passes by Faith and heads back into the trees towards the Scottish castle where she lives, leaving Faith alone, sitting on the cold, wet ground of the beautiful scenery.

**End of Chapter 3 of 6**


	4. Satsu and Faith

Disclaimer: All those involved with the story that I didn't create myself out of thin air belong to Joss Whedon and anyone associated with him who is lucky enough to be a part of writing, producing, funding, or drawing the characters that he created from that insane mind of his that we all love so much.

Rating: Mostly PG-13 with some minor language and adult conversations/situations.

Feedback: Anything you're willing to give me is fine in whatever way you'd like to give it to me. :)

Distribution: Anywhere other than where I put it, lemme know and I'm sure it'll be fine. Otherwise you can find it on BuffynFaithdotnet.

**Satsu and Faith**

Faith idly strolls down the long, endless hallways of the Scottish castle, unsure of what to do with herself since there wasn't anything attacking at that particular moment. So instead she explored the castle, sizing it up, checking out all the little nooks and crannies that anyone or anything could get through to attack if it ever came. But eventually she sees something that she was hoping to avoid rather than fight if possible. Satsu comes strolling down the hallway with a little more purpose but no idea what's ahead of her.

A sudden urge to avoid another near broken nose hits Faith and she turns around to start heading the opposite way, possibly hoping to jump into another room until the potential attacker passes by. Things don't quite work out that way though as Satsu spots Faith heading in the opposite direction suddenly.

"Faith..."

The sound of her name makes her stop, knowing she isn't gonna get away with the 'avoidance' plan. She turns around to face Satsu with an attempt at a serious but non-angry expression.

"Hey, Satsu, I..."

Her less than thought out plan to suddenly talk her way out of the situation doesn't work out either as Satsu runs right into Faith, a forearm firmly against Faith's collarbone with force. Faith hits the wall with a sudden thud that slightly stuns her at the force of Satsu's slayer strength. There's a look of serious but reserved anger on Satsu's face that's staring right into Faith.

"I don't like you."

Faith raises an eyebrow at Satsu's sudden statement.

"Really? Maybe we're getting our wires crossed or something because I'm getting a different impression from being slammed against the wall like you're trying to break one or more of my bones."

The younger slayer doesn't even really flinch at Faith's words.

"I've heard about you. I know about the things you did and what you're capable of. And I don't like any of it."

Faith sorta shrugs.

"Well whatever you've heard, I'm sure the reality is about a hundred times worse."

"Yeah? Well, I didn't much like you anyway and now from what I've heard I like you even less."

"Okay then, while we're on the subject of what you've heard and since I have your attention and everything. I kinda wanna make something clear between you and me."

Satsu just stares at the woman she's got up against the wall, not sure if she wants to hear whatever Faith has to say. Eventually she asks the question though.

"What's that?"

"No matter whatever else you might've heard, what twisted tale you heard from whoever's giving you your info. I ain't no carpet muncher."

Faith's wording seems to have the opposite effect that she was hoping for. Satsu gives Faith an extra shove against the wall at her anger.

"You got a PROBLEM with lesbians?"

Faith holds up her hands defensively rather than fight back which is what Satsu was expecting for a second there.

"No, hey, look, whatever makes you feel right with the world is fine by me. Believe me, I know what not feeling right by the world feels like. But on the very short list of things that I'd like to do before I die a brutal and pointless death, getting down and dirty with B ain't anywhere near the top of it. We ain't never been like that, me and B, and the way that we were and maybe always will be involves knives and other sharp objects that aren't designed for getting off unless you're into some seriously fucked up kink. Which, again, ain't what I'm into."

The pressure Satsu has on Faith's collarbone lessens a little because of what Faith said. The young Asian slayer thinks about the words for a second, unsure how much she should trust them.

"So you just go around kissing girls who talk to you for no reason?"

Again Faith sorta shrugs.

"I'm a big believer in impulse thinking. I'm surprised your info source forgot to mention my tendency to do that."

Satsu gets slightly angry and thoughtful expression on her face as she looks away for a second.

"And Buffy just HAPPENED to have the same impulsive thought?"

"Dunno, that's something you'll have to ask B about. She's the one that can answer that for you. But I can tell you that I ain't looking to move in on what I'm sure you're thinking of as 'your territory', what with the attacking me and everything. But I wanna be clear on something else too."

Tired of being held up against the wall by the younger slayer, Faith takes advantage of a break in Satsu's concentration to get out from under her arm and get behind her. Faith shoves Satsu face first up against the wall and holds her there with her own arm to the back of Satsu's shoulders.

"I'm not after B like that, but if I were, and if I were as bad as you've decided I am which isn't far from the truth but is pretty close, then there's a good chance you'd be bleeding to death right now instead of walking, talking, breathing, and threatening people."

Stepping back from Satsu, Faith lets her go and puts a little distance between them while Satsu turns around, slightly confused.

"But you're not. So maybe you should be rethinking whatever it is that you've got in your head about me and B."

They look across the hall at each other with a lack of friendliness between them. Faith is the first to speak.

"Got it?"

Satsu readjusts her posture in the hallway, keeping a glare on Faith the whole time.

"Yeah, sure, got it..."

Faith knows she's not convinced but goes along with the platitudes.

"Good, because I'd rather we didn't go around attacking each other for reasons that don't make sense. I'm gonna go now."

The older slayer turns her back to Satsu and walks away, feeling the eyes of the person she just had a conversation with watch her leave before finally hearing footsteps going in the opposite direction. It isn't long that Faith is alone in the hallway though, as along comes another person Faith would've rather avoided if at all possible, which it appears not. This one is slightly less hostile towards her though.

"Faith..."

Faith makes a less than enthused attempt to smile.

"Hey... B..."

Buffy notices the less than perfect way Faith's clothes are hanging off her and gets suspicious.

"What happened?"

Faith looks at Buffy with her own curious and unhappy look.

"What makes you think that something's happened?"

Buffy rolls her eyes at how Faith avoided the question.

"Because it's you, and you've been here a day and a half and look what's happened already."

"Good point..."

Buffy takes a deep breath.

"So what happened?"

"Nothing to worry about... just had a few words with someone that aren't really even worth repeating. It's cool."

There's a pause when Buffy's not sure that she really wants to ask the question she feels the need to ask.

"Who?"

Faith tries not to look at Buffy when she answers.

"Like I said, not important..."

It quickly clues into Buffy who Faith is talking about and her eyes go sorta wide for a split second.

"What did you do to her?"

Knowing she can't keep pretending Buffy doesn't already know, Faith sighs.

"Didn't do anything to her, like I said, we just had words."

"About what?"

"Nothing, but if you really wanna talk about it, I'm thinking I need to be the one doing the grilling."

Buffy seems confused by Faith's sudden statement.

"Why?"

"Sushi lady seems to have gotten it into her head that I'm some kinda horrible monster that goes around doing terrible things to people."

A sudden guilty look on Buffy's face gives Faith most of the answers she needs.

"And I'm wondering where she got that impression of me since the two of us only met the other day."

Buffy rubs the back of her head uncomfortably as she makes an attempt at explaining, something she hadn't been having much luck doing these days.

"Well, uh, I may have mentioned one or two things about you to her a couple days before you got here when I was desperate and reaching for topics to talk about with her instead of the usual horribly uncomfortable silence. And there may have been some less than flattering descriptions of some things you've done over the years in there somewhere, possibly a certain drowning incident... or... two, and your tendency to try and take things from me."

Faith rolls her eyes at the situation she suddenly finds herself in.

"Great..."

"But uh, I'm sure that the whole 'You kissing me' thing is probably a bigger deal then all that."

Again Faith feels the need to roll her eyes but this time she sighs heavily.

"Yeah, because THAT'S what got us off on the wrong foot..."

Buffy gets this slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Hey, it's not like I planned on any of this happening, it's just..."

"Something that happened a couple days ago that's really no big deal."

The blonde of the two isn't all that quick to answer but she does eventually.

"Yes..."

Faith looks Buffy right in the eyes and gives her a serious look that's almost impossible to read.

"Right, look, let me know when you're ready to say something else besides that B."

Then, like a seemingly endless event that repeats itself every so often, Faith leaves Buffy alone in the long, dark, unending hallway.

**End of Chapter 4 of 6**


	5. The Big Deal

Disclaimer: All those involved with the story that I didn't create myself out of thin air belong to Joss Whedon and anyone associated with him who is lucky enough to be a part of writing, producing, funding, or drawing the characters that he created from that insane mind of his that we all love so much.

Rating: Mostly PG-13 with some minor language and adult conversations/situations.

Feedback: Anything you're willing to give me is fine in whatever way you'd like to give it to me. :)

Distribution: Anywhere other than where I put it, lemme know and I'm sure it'll be fine. Otherwise you can find it on BuffynFaithdotnet.

**The big deal**

A rather firm knock is heard on Faith's door and she gets up to answer it.

"Yeah...?"

"One eyed maid service, guaranteed to clean your room without depth perception."

Faith smiles at Xander's greeting and goes over to open it. The door swings open and Xander is standing on the other side with a slightly serious smile on his face.

"Hey Faith, how's it going?"

The way Xander seems intently interested in the answer as if finding out would determine anything he might say next has Faith raising one eyebrow at him.

"Uh, can't complain, I guess..."

He seems happy with the answer.

"Well, you could, but I don't think it would do much good."

Faith sorta half grins at Xander's joke and shrugs.

"Yeah you're probably right. So what's up? Is there something to kill creeping around somewhere?"

Xander smiles without any of the nervousness of earlier.

"Nope, just me and the one armed man, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't kill this Cyclops."

He points to his good eye to make his point.

"Don't worry, you're safe."

"Okay, cool, but uh... the reason I came by is because Buffy's kinda hoping that she could speak to you about something."

Faith's curious look finds itself more curiosity.

"And you've gone back to being B's errand boy?"

Xander's slightly offended by the implication but shrugs it off.

"I made an exception in this case because Buffy's kinda hoping to talk to Satsu too and she thought the idea of coming to get both of you herself might make things look bad. Willow's off looking for Satsu."

Faith makes an attempt at being confused.

"Why would B need to talk to me and Satsu? We barely know each other."

Xander smiles at Faith's attempt to protect what's going on between the three slayers.

"Buffy told me all about what's been going on and it's okay. I wanna put it out there between us that I don't hold it against you for what happened and I'm not gonna come down on any of ya. I've made my fair share of colossal relationship mistakes. Better the three of you and not me."

The dark slayer can't help but agree with his logic on the subject and sorta shrugs.

"Guess that makes sense."

Xander motions towards outside with his head.

"So, you gonna come with me to see Buffy or am I gonna have to call in a few slayers to carry you?"

Faith smiles and shoves Xander gently to try and get him out of the way. He gets the message and steps out of the doorway so that Faith can walk through and then Xander starts leading the way. A few moments of not really uncomfortable silence pass as they walk down the hall together.

"So, since you know everything and all that. I'm guess you're okay with Buffy going muffy diving?"

Xander shrugs and sorta smiles.

"Hey, if I can live with my best friend who I've known from when we were in footy pajamas and broken yellow crayons doing it, then I think I can deal with my other best friend who it feels like I've known just as long doing it."

Faith cocks her head and smiles in agreement.

"And, you know, if Buffy happens to choose to record the next time she decides to do that with someone and the tape just HAPPENS to end up on my desk in my room... I'm not sure I would object."

That makes Faith laugh a little since something tells Faith he's telling the truth.

"Right..."

"And I'd be more than happy to extend that random chain of events that might NEVER happen to anything you might wanna do."

Again Faith laughs a little.

"Well, if I ever get that urge and I'm fairly certain it won't since I've been there and done that without the last part, I'll be sure to let you know."

He points at Faith in an attempted cool guy pointing kinda way, his thumb and forefingers in an L shape, as he responds.

"Much appreciated..."

"I'm sure you've got the same deal going with Red."

"Yeah, not so much. And by the way, I'm gonna give out some pre-emptive advice about dealing with the Willster. Do your best to be diplomatic around her would ya?"

Faith looks at her walking partner curiously.

"Why's that?"

Xander shrugs a little.

"Will's got her own issues about Buffy's current sexual escapades, and hearing that you're making it more complicated doesn't make her like you anymore than she already does."

The one eyed man with an eye patch slows down as they come up on a particular room and Faith assumes that they've made it. Just as they stop in front of it, Willow and Satsu are seen heading their way and they stop to wait for the other two to get there.

"Gotcha, thanks for the heads up Z-man."

"Any time..."

Two less than happy expressions meet Faith as the other two in the hallway catch up and stop at the doorway to the conference room. Faith makes an attempt to give Willow a serious smile without seeming smug.

"Hey Willow..."

Willow's eyes sorta narrow at Faith a bit.

"Faith..."

They don't say much more to each other as Satsu doesn't even bother with pleasantries and goes right inside the conference room. Faith looks at Xander and Willow while she shrugs.

"I guess that means we can go in."

She follows Satsu inside to a rather small conference room, a not terribly long table in the middle with chairs on all sides and a couple couches and chairs on the other side of the room from the table. It's in one of the chairs that's facing the couch that Buffy is sitting. She looks up to see Faith and Satsu have come in and stands up to meet them.

"Uh, hi..."

Silence follows Buffy's greeting and she eventually shifts her weight uncomfortably back and forth on her feet at the silence.

"C-could we sit?"

Satsu heads straight for the couch opposite Buffy's seat and even completely cuts Faith off in the process. Buffy and Faith glance at each other but Buffy quickly looks away, trying not to look like what Satsu just did bothered even though it's clear on her face. Faith makes her way over to one of the chairs opposite Buffy, choosing not to sit with Satsu for safety reasons, and sits down.

"Thanks for being here, I wasn't sure you'd come. It kinda seems like I've made both your lives worse since I came along. I wouldn't have blamed you if you'd just said 'Screw me' and not come."

Satsu decides now is a good time to comment.

"Been there, done that..."

Buffy looks at Satsu with a painful expression and feeling before lowering her gaze from both of them and attempts to talk about why they're all here.

"So, uh... I wanted to talk to both of you, partly because I wanted you both to know that I feel really horrible about what's been going on the past couple days because I know it's been mostly my fault and I hope that on some level it makes you both feel better to know how bad I feel about everything."

She looks at both of the people sitting across from her separately and neither of them says a word to respond, both of them with slightly ashamed expressions on their faces.

"I'm sorry for any hurt that I may have caused either of you because I was trying to act like what happened... between the three of us... wasn't a big deal. That was wrong, and I'm sorry. Because it WAS a big deal and still is, and trying to act like it wasn't made life harder for everyone, especially me even though this isn't really even about me. I hope that you can forgive me for it."

Again Buffy is greeted by nothing but silence at her words. Faith looks down with more shame and Satsu just seems to tense up while looking less angry but more sad than before.

"And... since it is a really big deal I've been thinking a hell of a lot about what to do about this so that everyone can live with themselves afterwards. So after thinking about it a lot and trying to see it from all different kinds of angles, I've come to a really important decision about everything."

Buffy pauses before continuing.

"Faith..."

Faith and Buffy look at each other across the space that's between them and both of their expressions are kinda unreadable which makes Satsu tense and really nervous.

"What happened the other day, with the kissing? Obviously there's something there between us and it's really powerful. I'm not sure how powerful exactly and to be honest, it scares the hell out of me, so I don't really want to go anywhere near it because I'm not sure finding out is such a good idea. But with our history and everything, I don't think it really goes beyond something physical, and I can't do only the physical again. That only leads to badness."

Buffy turns her attention to Satsu, who has absolutely no idea how to feel about what Buffy just said and is suddenly deathly afraid of what Buffy might say next.

"Satsu... the night we had together was incredible. I've never felt so completely connected to someone even though I didn't realize at the time how connected we were to each other."

Satsu smiles, suddenly expecting a lot of what Buffy says next.

"But I don't think I feel the same need to connect with you the way we did that night anymore. Because connecting to you like that isn't the kind of connection I want to have with you. It's something different. I think... more than anything what I feel for you is friendship. A deep friendship which is something I've never really felt before. I don't hate that part of us and I've probably ruined the friendship by letting things go where they went, but I'd really still like to try and find a way to have that with you. I know that's probably not what you were expecting, and probably not what you really want, and I'm sorry for that, but it's the way I feel."

Tears well up in Satsu's eyes for what's probably been the hundredth time in the past few days and neither of the two people in the room with her are entirely sure what she'll do next. Suddenly, she gets up and faces Buffy, looking at Faith briefly before coming back to Buffy and exploding.

"SCREW YOU!!"

Then Satsu takes off, leaving the two of them behind in the conference room. There's nothing but silence in the room for a while before Faith speaks up.

"She took that well."

Buffy glares at Faith before getting up and heading for the door slowly.

"Shut up Faith, before I go find myself a really sharp knife."

And for the first time in a while, Faith is the one to be left alone in a room all by herself to deal with the long, unending silence.

**End of Chapter 5 of 6**


	6. In a Moment of Passion

Disclaimer: All those involved with the story that I didn't create myself out of thin air belong to Joss Whedon and anyone associated with him who is lucky enough to be a part of writing, producing, funding, or drawing the characters that he created from that insane mind of his that we all love so much.

Rating: Mostly PG-13 with some minor language and adult conversations/situations.

Feedback: Anything you're willing to give me is fine in whatever way you'd like to give it to me. :)

Distribution: Anywhere other than where I put it, lemme know and I'm sure it'll be fine. Otherwise you can find it on BuffynFaithdotnet.

**In a moment of passion**

Walking along the dark, dank, unending hallway of the Scottish castle where she'd taken to living since the fall of Sunnydale, Buffy can't help but notice how much less dark and dank it seemed all of the sudden. Something about the air seemed fresher and more at ease in the place. Or maybe that was her. Whatever it was, things definitely seemed to be looking up.

Buffy looked up at the ceiling as a small drop of water lands on her head and she stares up at the small crack in the ceiling, frowning slightly at the water that's pooling there getting ready to drop. Despite the unfortunate turn of events, Buffy can't help but shrug and make note of where she is before heading on her way to nowhere in particular.

"Well, at least Xander will be happy with a problem he can actually fix."

Her thoughts instantly went to her own problems that she recently had to deal with and part of her has to smile, knowing that the weight of it all had been lifted off her shoulders and she'd resolved everything for the moment within herself. It was a feeling she wasn't accustomed to feeling, but one that she didn't exactly hate the idea of feeling for a while.

Suddenly, there's a sound coming from somewhere that Buffy can't quite make out. She looks around, trying to figure out where it came from and whether it means something. But things go quiet after that and, slightly against her better judgment she turns to continue on her aimless stroll through the castle. It isn't long however before another sound is heard, this one louder than before that almost sounds like a crash and Buffy's hearing perks up to try and find any other sound that might be happening. She starts to pick up the sound of a voice, an angry voice from somewhere very close by.

Focusing her hearing even more to try and pinpoint where it's coming from, her ears recognize the sound of the voice before she takes off in the direction it's coming from.

"Satsu..."

Every step Buffy takes picks up speed for her and eventually it becomes clear where she's heading when another crash is heard from the fast approaching room. Buffy runs straight into Faith's door at full speed, crashing through it into her room and falling into a pile of broken wood. She doesn't even bother to wait to recover from the pain before looking around the room for Satsu.

The young slayer is standing in the middle of the room with a look of absolute shock and fear on her face that has nothing to do with Buffy's sudden entrance. In fact, Satsu hasn't even noticed Buffy. She's too busy looking at the knife she's holding in her right hand as the blood on both of them drips all over her hands.

Buffy isn't quite sure what to do at first since the reality of what's going on hasn't quite sunk in yet. But eventually the numbing pain of crashing through the door subsides and she's able to carefully stand up to face Satsu.

"I... I..."

Satsu's voice cracks even with what little she said and Buffy can see her hands start to shake more and more as tears well up in the young girl's eyes. Her hands shake so much that she drops the knife on the floor when she looks down in front of her where the bed is blocking Buffy's view of what's happened. Confused about what she's just crashed in on, Buffy walks over to Satsu for answers.

"Satsu? Satsu what's going on?"

When Buffy gets close enough, she looks down at Satsu's hands, blood dripping off them as the younger girl falls apart. Buffy grabs Satsu's hands firmly and brings them to where she can really confirm what it is that she has on them.

"What's going on Satsu? What did you...?"

A thought sparks in Buffy's mind about where the blood could've come from and she immediately turns to look where Satsu was looking a second ago to see Faith lying on the floor propped up against the bed, a deep wound to the right side of her stomach and blood seemingly pouring out. Buffy's immediate reaction is to rush to Faith's side to help the bleeding slayer. She moves Faith's own hands out of the way and puts some pressure on the wound to try and stop the bleeding.

"God, Faith..."

Buffy looks up at Satsu in a mixture of shock, fear, anger and confusion, a feeling of absolute disbelief soon following close behind.

"Satsu? What the HELL did you do?"

The young slayer shakes her head a little, almost in total denial about the events that have just happened.

"I... I don't know. I... I..."

"You don't know?"

Satsu makes an attempt at explaining her actions.

"I... I don't know, I... I couldn't think. I didn't think, I just... it's... it's all her fault. She... it's... she's the reason that you..."

Buffy looks at Satsu with fear and confusion as she can't seem to do enough to stop the bleeding.

"Just, help me. Help me to save her and we'll figure out the rest later. Just... do something."

Satsu goes into panic mode, looking around for something that will make sense.

"I... I'm sorry..."

She sees the open window and climbs out onto it before taking a swan dive straight down. The urge to go after Satsu and see what happened below overwhelms Buffy but she can't move for fear of what might happen to Faith if she does.

"SATSU!!"

A few seconds later a couple slayers and Xander come in through the broken door to Faith's room and see what's going on.

"Xander, find Willow and get her here YESTERDAY! Leah, come here and help me try and stop the bleeding until Willow can get here."

"On it Buff..."

Xander races out of the room while Leah comes over to help Buffy and a couple other slayers just stand there gawking. Buffy grabs Leah's hands and forces them down on Faith's wound, pressing them there hard.

"Keep the pressure there. Keep it there until Willow gets here."

Leah watches Buffy as she gets up and heads to the window. Sticking her head out and looking around, she eventually sees a figure about a hundred feet away and getting farther bolting away from the castle at top speed. Buffy knows that calling out to Satsu at this point is probably about as useful as she is until Willow arrives. Suddenly Buffy hears a voice she never expected to hear.

"B..."

Buffy pulls herself back inside and looks at Faith lying against the side of the bed, a smile coming over Faith's face.

"Why is it that every time you and me get within ten feet of each other, someone always ends up stabbed?"

The blonde slayer gets a bit of a smile on her face as well as she comes back over to help Leah keep the bleeding to a minimum, to little avail.

"I dunno F, but you gotta hold on. Willow will be here any second to fix you up good as new."

Faith coughs as she laughs a little and her breathing gets more ragged.

"Not sure I can B... Buffy... I think I'm a goner."

She coughs some more and Buffy struggles to find some way to make the bleeding stop completely.

"Hey, don't talk like that. I'm the one that's supposed to kill you remember? We're supposed to have that big knock down drag out fight that finally settles everything between us. You die now and we never get a chance to have that. So stay with me, all right?"

Buffy feels her eyes sting with tears as she watches Faith start to fade in and out of consciousness.

"Sorry... not sure I can help you there B."

Faith's breathing seems to get harder and harder to keep going.

"Come on, Faith... you have to. Just..."

"B..."

"God damn it Faith, I... you can't die. You're, you're not allowed to."

Buffy adds more anger to her tears as she watches Faith seem to slip away with every second that passes.

"No, Faith... You're not ALLOWED to die you hear me? Don't be a bitch about this and actually LISTEN to me for ONCE in your god DAMN life."

Faith's breaths get shorter and weaker as everyone in the room struggles to hope that the dark slayer will pull through. Desperate to find something that will spark SOMETHING in Faith that will keep her alive long enough for Willow to get there, Buffy goes for broke and says the only thing that comes to mind.

"I'm FUCKING in love with you Faith! You hear that? You're not allowed to die because I'm in love with you and I'm NOT going to let you die on me."

Buffy looks down at Faith through the tears now pouring out of her eyes as Faith struggles not to take her last breath.

**THE END**


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